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THE 



"ONLY ALTERNATIVE." 



^ ®art to ih Wxnm. 



BY ^ FLAIN MA^N. 




■ The only ALTERNATIVE for our choice is the suppression of the rebellion 

OR THE destruction OF OUR NATIONALITY." 

Gen McOlellan's Speech at West Point. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

UENRY B. ASHMEAD, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, 

Nos. 1102 AND 1104 Sansom Street. 

18 64. 



t 






THE "ONLY ALTERNATIVE.' 



If the traveller comes to a place where two ways meet he has only to 
determine which is wrong, for it necessarily follows that the other is right. 
In the present crisis of our public affairs only two ways are open to any 
American citizen, who has a drop of patriotic blood in his veins, viz: to 
uphold the lawful government of the country or to oppose it — to resist 
rebellion or countenance it — to vindicate our claim to a place among the 
nations of the earth, or to acknowledge its spuriousness. To show this, 
we submit to candid men of all parties a few observations — made in no 
unfriendly spirit towards any party or any candidate for office — but with 
the deep conviction that nothing will restore peace and prosperity to our 
country but the speedy and triumphant assertion of the supremacy of the 
Federal Government through all our thirty-four States and the Territories. 

We can conceive of nothing more absurd than the idea that there is a 
shadow of right or justice at the bottom of the Southern rebellion. The 
testimony of Alexander H. SfejjJirns, now Vice President of the Confeder- 
ate States of America, to this point, is conclusive. The following is ex- 
tracted from his speech in the Secession Convention of Georgia, January. 
1S61: 

" Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can 
give that will even satisfy yourselves in calmer moments — what reasons 
you can give to your fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring. What 
reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to justify it? They will 
be the calm and deliberate judges in the case; and to what cause, or one 
overt act, can you point on which to rest the plea of justification ? What 
right has the North assailed? What interest of the South has been in- 
vaded ? What justice has been denied, or what claim founded in justice 
and right has been withheld ? Can any of you to-day name one govern- 
mental act of wrong deliberately and purposely dons by the Government at 
Washington, of which the South has a right to complain? I challenge 
the answer." 

The utter fallacy of the arguments by which secessionists would justify 
their course has been so often exposed that we might pass them without 
notice, were it not that the relations of the several States to each other and 
to the General Government are so easily misconceived and so frequently 
misrepresented. Take for example the current maxim that " The power 
which made the Union can unmake it." Admitting for the moment tliat 
it were so, the question arises, what power made the Union ? AVas it cot 
the power that resided in the people — ALL the people, who were then en- 
titled to any voice in determining the system of government ? Did not the 
people — as one body — agree, that in order to form a more perfect I nion 
than any Confederacy could be, and to secure the blessings of liberty and 
domestic tranquillity to themselves and those who should come after them, 



they would relimiuish certain powers inherent in themselves, and confer 
the same on a President and Congress to be elected in a prescribed man- 
ner y And did they imagine that the next day, year or century after they 
had completed a complicated fabric of governmelit, it might fall to pieces 
throu<:li a weakness in the material or structure which a schoolboy might 
detect, l)Ut against wliich no wit or wisdom could guard? Is it supposable 
that the Southern State? would have committed themselves to such a Union 
had they supposed it possible that the North might at any moment sever 
the cord that bound them together — dissolve into two or ten independent 
republics, and laugh at the simplicity which could be duped into such a 
puerile proceeding? Whatever theories may be held on the subject by 
the present generation, it is obvious that the people who adopted the 
Federal Constitution intended to invest the government that should be 
organized under it, with ample powers of self-preservation. They well 
knew the futility of attempting to conduct public aiFuirs amidst the con- 
flicting interests and policies of several co-ordinate governments, for they 
had tried it, and it was their purpose to invest the Federal office-holders 
with whatever powers were requisite and necessary to give life, vigour, 
and perpetuity to the Union. They did not launch the ship until they 
were reasonably assured of her seaworthiness. Repairs might be needful, 
but reconstruction never entered their minds. 

And it is scarcely credible that any sensible, thoughtful man, can for 
a moment entertain the idea that such a nation as the United States 
could ever have existed, had the right been reserved by any one of its 
constituents, to cut itself loose. Not only were all the powers conferred 
upon the General Government which could be neces-ary to the exercise of 
its functions, and for the preservation of its life; but certain powers were 
positively denied to State organizations, the retention of which might im- 
pair its absolute supremacy, such as making treaties, alliances or confede- 
rations, coining money, emitting bills of credit, establishing post routes, &c. 

It is impossible to conceive of any language by which to express the 
transfer of power from one hand to another more explicit and definite than 
that by which the ptople of this country, in their primary assemblies, in 
the year 1787 divested themselves of certain sovereign prerogatives which 
they, at the same time, conferred on a government then organized by their 
will. No contract could possibly be made between man and man more 
binding in its terms thaji that by which South Carolina and Georgia, for a 
valuable consideration, agreed with New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 
that •• Congress should exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, 
over all places purchased by consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which the saiue shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dock yards," &c. If I buy a house of my neighbour and take possession 
of it under a valid deed, does any body suppose he may, at his pleasure, 
re-enter upon the premises and lawfully hold them ? Would a deed or 
any other instrument transferring property, be worth the paper on which 
it is ])rinted or written if such a principle were sanctioned? 

]Jut this is just what South Carolina and Georgia have done. They 
made a fair bargain with Congress, acting on behalf of New Hampshire, 
Ma.s,sachusetts, and the other members of the Union, for the sale of certain 
proi.erty in the^ neighbourhood of Charleston, Savannah, and elsewhere. 
Confiding securely in the good faith of the contracting parties. Congress 



proceeded to expend large sums of money on the premises, and to connect 
with them the most important public interests of the wliole country. 
Every person owing allegiance to our Government has a positive pecuniary 
interest in that land and in those works, as truly as any farmer has in his 
farm or any mechanic in his tools. And one of tlie express imperative 
duties of the General Government is to defend that interest of ours by all 
the force at its disposal. 

After owning and occupying these premises seventy yenrs or more, the par- 
ties of whom they were bought, seize them with force of arms — wrest thcni 
from their lawful owners — and defy the government that has the custody 
of them, to retain them ! As if a man were to sell me his horse and receive 
the agreed price for him and then jump upon his back and ride away. 
Independence Hall is no more the property of Philadelphia, nor is the capital 
at Harrisburg any more the property of Pennsylvania than is Fort Sumter 
the property of the United States. The only plausible pretence for wresting 
it from our possession with powder and ball, must be that the United 
States have no rights that the Southern tier of States are bound to respect. 

However the question of ownership may be settled, one thing is mani- 
fest, that in the present conflict the aim and eifort of the government has 
simply been to repossess itself of what it once owned, and what it was 
bound by promise and oath to proiect and preserve. The State of South 
Carolina alone, or in conjunction with others, had no more right to seize 
Fort Sumter than it would have to seize Fort Preble, in Portland harbor, 
or Fort "Warren at Boston. We, the people of the United States, own 
them all — and our servants, the Presiiient and Congress, are sworn to pre- 
serve them for us, and to defend them against all foes, foreign and domestic, 
and to summon to their aid for that purpose the physical force of the 
nation — South and North, East and West. If this is not sound doctrine, 
the whole machinery of our government is a monstrous imposture. 

There are two classes of State rights, viz : Rights under the Constitu- 
tion, and rights independent of the Constitution. Chief among the former 
is the right to have the supreme law of the land executed equally, promptly 
and faithfully in every State. No more palpable and positive violation of 
the right of Pennsylvania as a member ot the Union, can be conceived, 
than for the Federal Government to allow its supreme authority to be set 
at nought — for it is to that she must look for the protection of the rights 
she has reserved. The only compensation the States have for the relin- 
quishment of any sovereign rights, is the increased security and value of 
those they retain. The bands which hold each separate sheaf together will 
snap asunder, when the band that surrounds the shock is broken. 

When the Federal Constitution was adopted there were as few obstacles 
to a union of opinions as there have been at any subsequent period, and 
much fewer than there are likely to be at any future time. There is 
nothing in the instrument itself that can be interpreted into any party or 
sectional bearing. It is as yeneral in its terms and provisions as it can be 
and yet embrace the pacific ends in view, viz : a more perfect union — the 
establishment of justice — the assurance of domestic tranquillity — provision 
for the common defence — the blessings of liberty, and the promotion of the 
general welfare. And it is as specific as it need be, considering the spirit 
in which it was adopted. Had there been on one side an unscrupulous 
demagogue seeking the widest field for his ambitious projects ; and on the 



6 

other a jealous populace, yielding nothing that could possibly be withheld, a 
very different doeiinient would have come down to us. We need not say how 
impossible it would be to frame such a system of government amidst the 
strifes and conflicting interests of our day. But by common sacrifices and 
sufferings our futbers won an independence which they would fain estab- 
lish and perpetuate ; and they wisely and cheerfully assented to such an 
adjustnu'ut of the checks and balances of government as seemed best fitted 
to this end. 

That the working of the machinery would show the necessity of some 
amendments no one doubted, and provision was therefore made for them. 
The grand reservoir of power was still in " the people." The intervals at 
which their head-servants were to return for the surrender or renewal of 
their commissions, were too brief to admit of any disastrous abuses. And 
what people on the face of the earth could ask a fairer field for the last 
experiment of self government ? Separated by the wide ocean from the 
nations of the old world, favoured with every diversity of soil and climate, 
with an intelligent, healthy population, free schools, free soil and free con- 
science, what couid hinder our rapid rise to greatness and renown, but the 
lack of that intelligence and virtue without which national greatness is 
unattainable ? 

Bright as were the auspices under which we began our career there 
were those who, from the first, saw on the southern horizon a little cloud, 
which they feared might involve our future sky in clouds and storms. One 
of the first steps towards the organization of the new government was to 
determine who should be taxed, for this would settle the more important 
question who should take part in making the laws, in a word, who should 
constitute "the people." And in this enumeration we find, (l.)"free 
persons;" (who else could there be in a free countr}'?); (2.) persons 
" bound to service for a term of years," and (3.) " other persons." It is 
these "other persons" that are innocently at the bottom of all our present 
troubles. Of these " other persons" five were to be counted as three. 
Another enigmatical clause provides that during the period of twenty-one 
years nest ensuing. Congress shall not prohibit the migration or importa- 
tion of "such persons as any of the States then existing might think pro- 
per to admit." And again there is a provision to surrender, on demand, 
to the lawi'ul claimant, any person who escapes from a State by the laws 
of which he is held to service, into a State where similar laws do not exist, 
and where the holding of any one to such service is absolutely forbidden I 
Such was the tenderness with which this class of rights was regarded, and 
so careful were the framers of the Constitution t.) gu;ud against any in- 
fringement of them, that the law for their protection was offeree, any law 
of the State into which the bound person might escape to the contrary 
notwithstanding ! 

It was the co-existence of these two elements, freedom and involuntary 
servitude, that gave rise, in some minds, to very grave distrust of the per- 
nuinency of the government. From the beginning of the world it had 
never been known, that two principles so intensely antagonistic as these, 
had been incorporated into one and the same body politic with success or 
safety. And, as we have said, it was feared from the outset, that this 
latent, poison, which had been infused into our system under British rule 
and for British gain, would sooner or later produce death. 



If we carefully observe the progress of legislation as the exponent of 
public opinion, we shall, all along, detect conflicts between the vaulting 
arrogance of slavery and the reluctant concessions of freedom. It waa 
Thomas Jefferson, who, nearly a century ago, in the draft of the Declara- 
tion of Independence charged upon the British king the guilt of a "pirati- 
cal warfare against human nature itself," in that '• he tolerated and 
encouraged the execrable commerce in slaves;" but even thus early, "some 
Southern gentlemen," sa)s Mr. Jefi'crson, whose "reflections were not 
matured to the full abhorrence of the traffic," objected to " such severe 
strictures, and they were stricken out!"* 

The acrimonious party spirit which pervaded the cabinet and the coun- 
try during almost the whole of the first score of years after the adoption of 
the Constitution, and which at times threatened the subversion of the 
government, found topics enough on which to expend it.^elf, Avithout 
touching the subject of slavery. To the States in which it was a fixture, 
it served as a bond of union, giving identity to their interests and policies, 
and in process of time it was accepted (however unwillingly) as the arbi- 
trator in some of the most important questions of public policy. 

It was not, however, till 1820 that a demand was made by it sufld- 
ciently distinct and imperative to awaken general concern, and then it 
triumphed in what is known as the Missouri Compromise. Ten or twelve 
years later it again showed its spirit in direct resistance to Federal authority, 
but the executive power was then in the hands of a man who had learned 
to obey and hence knew how to command ; and the spirit of anarchy was 
repressed. f The Mexican war was emphatically in the interest of the i^lave 
States, and scarcely a session of Congress has passed, in later years, without 
some sharp and bitter controversies growing out of slavery or its immedi- 
ate connections. It required no unusual sagacity to see whither it was all 
tending, and yet the muniments with which the Constitution surrounds it, 
protected it efi"ectually ikgainst all attempts to circumscribe its area, coun- 
teract its influences, or weaken its power. 

Occasionally some Congressional debate or the occurrence of some ques- 
tion growing out of the fugitive slave law has awakened the hostile powers 
suflBciently to show the gradual increase of their strength, and to indicate 
the inevitable certainty of a collision. Such was the mission of an eminent 
Massachusetts lawyer to Charleston, to try the validity of one of the laws 
of South Carolina touching people of colour going thither from free States; 
the Burns ease at Boston, the Lemmon case at New York, the assault 
upon a Massachusetts Senator in t'he Legislative chamber at Washington, 
by a citizen of the South; the radical extra judicial opinions of Chief Jus- 
tice Taney in the Dred Scott case, and the invasion of Southern soil by 
John Broirn and his comrades. Probably this last incident stirred more fears 
and hopes than any other. That there were intemperate and irritating things 
said and done on both sides no one could deny. The upholders of the slave 
interest became more and more extravagant in their demands for its pro- 

* Who -would believe that those who profess the purest faith in Mr. Jcflferson's political 
creed, could be found at this day, seeking peace with a government, the corner stone of 
which is human slavery ! 

t "The tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and a Southern confedeia^y the real 
object. The ne.^t pretext will be the negro or the slavery question." — den. Jucknon tn 
Rev. J. A. Crarcford, read by Gov. Johnson at a jiublic meeting, Loi/anfjwrt, Indianu, Oc- 
tober 4, 1864. 



tection and extension, and, on the other hand, there were a few who seemed 
ready to trample into the dust all governments and institutions of religion 
and learnint:, in their eagerness to crush it. Such may have been really 
secessioni^ts in spirit, though they were insufficient in numbers and influ- 
ence to carry out their projects. 

The l^resideutial election in 185G evoked a very decided expression of 
feeling on both sides. The vote lor Fremont was virtually a vote to re- 
strict slaverj to its existing bounds, but it was by no means a full expres- 
sion of the popular will in that behalf. Many persons supported Bu- 
chunaii as better qualified by education and habits of life to administer 
the government without once suspecting that he was capable of the pusil- 
lanimity (to use no harsher word) that characterized his whole term. 

That the election of Fremont would have precipitated an insurrection of 
the Soukheru States is highly improbable, for the scheme was then imma- 
ture. But during Mr. Buchanan's administration everything favoured the 
plot. 'J he defiant spirit took on new energy and audacity. What was not 
imperiously demanded as a concessiim to the slave power, was silently and 
covertly secured by those who occupied the chief posts of trust and patron- 
age. The entire sympathy and co-operation of the Federal officers for the 
time being, were with the plans and purposes of Southern schemers, so that 
even before their official connection with the Government of the United 
States ceased, the conspiracy for its overthrow was ripe for overt acts. — 

When the election cauje ofl' in the fall of LSGU, the extreme anti-slavery 
men sustained .the Republican candidate, but he was in no proper sense 
theirs. On the C(jntrary his chiet support was derived from men who had 
coijfidence in his uufending integrity, and in his capacity " to take care 
that the laws be faithiully executed." That he would manfully withstand 
all encroachments of the slave-power, and all measures that favoured, never 
so remotely, its extension to free soil, was well understood. There were 
some, however, who were extremely conservative and disposed, if it were 
possible, to postpone yet a little longer the conflict that all knew must 
finally come, and these preferred other candidates. 

The election of Mr. l..incoln expresssed the will of a majority of the law- 
ful voters of the United States, as clearly and as constitutionally as any vote 
that has been taken since the Government was established; but the plot- 
ters of the insurrection saw fit to interpret it into the triumph of a party 
opposed to their interests, and as they had determined, long before, to em- 
brace the fir-it favourable opportunity to renounce their aliegiatice to the 
Federal Government, and as thi'y had availed themselves of their position 
as its chief confidential officers and servants, to make all needful prepara- 
tion for revolt,* they did not delay to institute measures at once, while 
their dupe or tool yet occupied the Executive chair, to put the insurgent 
States in battle array. So that when the. newly elected President took the 
reins of the Government into his hands, the rebellion had become a fixed 
and terrible fact ! 

If the people of the loyal States could have foreseen the events which 
have occurred during his term of service, they might have preferred some 
one whose education and habits of life would seem specially to qualify him 

* Mr. YdIcc n Southern member, avowed that Southern Senators kept their places "for 
the very jmrpos^ of tying Mr. Huchanan's hands and preventing any legislaiiun that 
ihould Btrengthen the hands of the incoming administration. " 



9 

\ 
to cope with treachery aud violence. l}ut the goiiiuH of our Goveninietit 
is eminently pacific. Though the President is Connnander-in-chief' of the 
array and navy, the Constitution vests in the direct representatives of the 
people the exclusive power to declare war and to raise and support armies. 
An impulsive head-strong man at the helm mi^ht have involved us in 
irretrievable embarrassments with foreign nations, and there is every nel- 
son to believe that no person could have been selected, under any circum- 
stances, whose general policy and bearing could have been, on the whole, 
more befitting the place and the extraordinary exigencies of the times. 
That he may have been betrayed int^ some errors — that he may have lis- 
tened to evil counsellors — that his judgment may have been at fault now 
and then, and that he is not so well fitted "to shiue in courts" as some of 
his cotemporaries, may be conceded, without impugning his claim to our 
united and hearty support as a wise, efficient and upright magistrate, and 
•an enlightened, fearless, irreproacbable patriot. 

Let us now look for a moment at the position of public affairs. 

I. Without adverting to points of diplomatic policy in our foreign 
relations, or to questions that may hereafter arise touching violations of 
neutral law and the depredations upon our commerce, we may regard 
foreign intervention as, for the present, improbable. We are at peace 
with the outside world and must settle our domestic feud as we can. 
Still we are so connected socially and commercially with other nations that 
they cannot be indifferent to or unaffected by our condition and prospects. 
They want our market for the fruits of their skill and labour, and we have 
been accustomed to supply them with the products of our soil in exchange. 
Our civil war interrupts, if it does not break up, this traffic, and hence (if 
for no better reason) they would have it at an end. But do these nations 
desire the success of our Government in the effort to suppress an unnatural 
and causeless rebellion, and the restoration of the country to its former 
strength and prosperity ? 

It cannot be denied that ours is the only truly popular government on 
the globe. In theory it would not be practicable to form a political system 
in which the voice or vote of the people, as such, could be more perfectly 
and audibly uttered. The unexampled prosperity of the country and its 
growth in population, wealth aud resources are, so far, evidences of the 
safety and eligibility of such a form of government. It is cited, under 
this impression, by the friends and advocates of popular institutions in the 
Old World to the great annoyance of those who are of the contrary part. 
And now, if after a trial of fourscore years, under circumstances so favour- 
able (as they would say) to the success of the experiment, it fails, is it not 
conclusive evidence that the attempt i^ hopelet^s ? And would they not 
point to our fragmentary existence, in the shape of several republics or 
provinces, and ask, what more significant warning can be expected by those 
who would exchange the ancient and venerable governments of the Old 
World for such fragile and ephemeral structures ? 

He who led our revolutionary armies in the struggle to throw off the 
British yoke, and who watched, with paternal solicitude, over our infancy 
as a nation, saw clearly how essential it was to its well being that it should 
have one heart and one life, one country and one flag. After witnessing the 
weakness and impracticability of a Confederacy, he came to the conviction 
that we could not "exist long as a nation without lodging somewhere a 



10 

power which shall pervade the whole Uniou in as energetic a manner as the 
authority of the State government extends over the several States." And 
when, after Ions debate and endless compromises and concessions, the Federal 
Constitution was adapted and the States united under it, he was most anxious 
to impress on the minds of his countrymen the transcendent importance of 
that unilt/ of jr<»vernment which constitutes us one people. lie justly re- 
garded this as "the main pillar in the edifice of our real independence — the 
support of our tranijuillity at home — our peace abroad — our safety — our pros- 
perity — the very liberty which we so highly prize — ihe point in our iwlitical 
fortress against voliicli the batteries of internal and external enemies will 
be most constantly and actively/ (jEongh often covertly and insidiously) 
directed." He regarded it as of primary importance that '-the people 
should be accustomed to think and speak of the Union as the palladium 
of political safety and prosperity — discountenancing whatever may suggest 
the suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and to frown indig- 
nantly 01) the first dawning of any attempt to alienate one portion of the 
country from the rest, (jr to enfeeble the ties which bind together the 
various parts." Can there be a doubt that the indissolubility of our Union 
is as essential a doctrine in any sound political creed today as it was in 
Washington's day ? There can be no counsels and warnings more distaste- 
ful to anti-republican ears than these of our incomparable Washington. 

As nothing exhibits in more vivid contrast the burdens imposed on a peo- 
ple by the ambition and avarice of despotic rulers, than the complete success 
of a free popular government on this Western Continent, so nothing would be 
more grateful to such rulers than to have such a light extinguished and such 
an exhibition closed by the dismemberment of the Union, and its consequent 
disappearance from the family of nations. The hope that the present war will 
terminate in the separation of the Southern tier of States from the Union 
not less than the greed of gain, prompts foreign sympathy with the interests 
and agents of the revolted districts. To destroy our commerce, weaken 
our financial strength or credit, vilify our principles and manners, hold 
our authorities up to ridicule and reproach and studiously misrepresent 
the views and policy of the National Government and of its representatives 
in the Cabinet and in the field, is the task or pastime in which the leaders 
and interpreters of public opinion abroad are employed. If they succeed 
in cajoling their countrymen into the belief that we arc little more than a 
horde of naked, roaming savages, our separation into tribes will be regarded 
as rather favourable to our future civilization', under foreign tutors and gov- 
ernors. We have nothing serious to fear, however, from direct trans-Atlantic 
influences. Jf they will only withhold material aid from the insurgents, 
and allow them no access to their harbours for illicit purposes, they may 
abuse the country to their heart's content*. So much for our enemies 
abroad. 

II. The aspect of public aifairs within our own borders is more critical. 
It is unfortunate, perhaps, that at this juncture in the progress of the 
great rebellion, a presidential election should occur or anything else 
to divert the public mind from the grand question, not who shall govern 
the nation, but whether there shall be a nation to govern. Yet it is pos- 
sible that this very circumstance may serve to define more sharply the 
true i.ssue, and to summon more generally from their dens the foul spirits 
of disorganization and treason. The random opinions which might have 



11 

■been thrown out touching the conduct of our arniies or tlic nit^iisures of 
the administration, could have had no concentrating force nor would they 
lielp us to obtain a verdict in the momentous trial now in projrress. But 
in the individuals selected for the suffrages of the country a few days 
hence to fill the offices of President and Vice President of the United 
States, we have the representatives of two sorts of people that make the 
body of voters. These gentlemen are very unlike in character and ante- 
cedents, but for the present we lay aside all personal reference to thera, 
that we may consider the two lines of policy which it is sujtposed they will 
adopt. As to the present incumbeut we cannot better mark out his proba- 
ble future (should he be retained in office) than by pointing to the past. 
He has been before the people as an executive officer for nearly four years, 
and it will probably be admitted, on all hands, that a more perplexing and 
eventful term of service has not fallen to the lot of any of his predeces- 
sors. As we have seen, the rebellion had made fearful progress before he 
had fair hold of the reins of government. It had been accumulating 
strength and resources for months and years, without a check, if not with 
the connivance of the existing administration. Those who were not privy 
to the schemes of the insurgents had very inadequate ideas of their extent 
^and subtility, and hence the first steps that were taken to counteract them 
were far too lenient and contracted. It was only as the true dimensions 
of the rebellion and its ferocious and desolating spirit, were disclosed that 
the constituted authorities could judge what force was adequate to cope 
with it ; and to this reluctance of the government to go beyond the clear 
exigency of the occasion in calling out military force and subjecting the 
country to burdens not absolutely necessary, may probably be ascribed 
some of the early miscarriages of our army. 

Few of us have any just conception of the immense labour and perplex- 
ity involved in raising, fitting out and supplying armies, and building and 
equipping navies. A moment's consideration must satisfy any reflecting 
man that to call out and muster into service, and provide for an army 
numbering from first to last millions of men,* and to raise a navy from a 
hundred or two war vessels to as many thousands, and some of them the 
largest and the most complete in every respect of all that are afloat in any 
waters of the earth, is no ordinary task for a young country like ours. Yet 
all this has been done in about three years. A parallel to it as an example 
of industry, enterprise, energy and resolution, not less than administrative 
strength and capacity, is not easily found. History will record it to the 
imperishable credit of our national vitality and honour, when croakers and 
traitors are remembered only to be condemned and despised. 

The most virulent of the opposers of the government cannot deny that 
the Chief Magistrate has kept one purpose steadily in view, and that is the 
enforcement of the laws in the revolted States. To this he was sworn. 
They may charge him with having employed unconstitutional means, but 
they must admit that it was the suppression of the rebellion that prompted 
it. They may charge him with having listened to the counsels of fanatics 
and with being swayed by them, but they cannot deny that those counsels 
were all in unison with his one leading purpose, — the suppression of the 

* Tlie calls for volunteers and requisitions for drafts up to July 15, 1864, embraced 
2,739,748 men. Calls for emergency and hundred days men swell the amount to 2,953,748, 
or within a fraction of three millions ! 



12 

rebellion. They may charge him with having changed his policy from 
that which he avowed at the outset, but with all this, they must admit 
that it is only a change to a more resolute and unflinching purpose to put 
an end to the rebellion.* In a word, whatever sins may be laid at his 
door, sympathy with General Davis, his purposes or adherents is not one 
of them. 

It is not maintained by the warmest friends of Mr. Lincoln that he has 
been unexceptionably judicious in his appointments and removals — civil 
or military. He has been wofully deceived by some — he may have over- 
rated others. That he has been shrewd enough to shun all sharpers and 
swindlers in the distribution of patronage, is not pretended. It may be 
doubted, however, whether the guilt of the most consummate scoundrel 
that has ever imposed on him or his subordinates will compare with that 
of Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of War or Secretary of the Navy. Major 
Andre, though hung as a spy, was a pure man compared with Benedict 
Arnold, who was promoted to honour in the British army. Washington 
was deceived in more than one of his right hand men — and so were Jef- 
ferson and Jackson. Mr. Lincoln's stern honesty may make him slow to 
distrust others, but it is proof against all attempts to corrupt himself. 

There have been few periods in our history in which so many complicated^ 
questions touching international rights and courtesies have arisen as during 
Mr. Lincoln's administration. The attitude of foreign governments has 
been, at times, very equivocal, and the efforts to produce a rupture that 
should result in some advantage to the States in revolt, have been stimu- 
lated by the strongest of human passions. To counteract these efforts and 
to preserve our peaceful relations abroad without compromising the na- 
tional honour or self-respect, was a task that no one would covet and that 
few could execute with more fidelity and success than the present Secre- 
tary of State. 

The vast expenditures which the war has involved could not have been 
anticipated or provided for beforehand. As the revolt extended and mag- 
nified itself, corresponding measures to repress it became necessary, and 
with these came new and heavy drafts upon the treasury requiring new 
resources to be devilled. Hundreds of millions must be forthcoming and 
fountains opened that would yield a steady and (if need be) a constantly 
augmenting stream. To meet promptly such an extraordinary emergency, 
without a ruinous disturbance of the commercial and moneyed interests of 
the country, confidence in the government is indispensable, and this can 
be secured only by the skill and integrity with which the Treasury De- 
partment is administered. Those only who are familiar with deep pro- 
blems of finance can appreciate the difficulties of sucli a position at such a 
crisis. To have sustained the credit of the government through perils so 
unexpected and imminent is an achievement on which the most renowned 
financier might justly be congratulated. No power short of omnipotence 
could suspend or prevent the operation of the laws of trade. And when 
we reflect upon the diversity of interests that are aff"ected by diverting into 
entirely new ohauuels so large a part of the capital and labour of a coun- 

* Some fastidious persons object to the application of this term to so large a body as are 
engagi;J in arms against the lawful government of the country, but we cannot see the force 
of the objection. We speak of the " rebel angels" without any knowledge of their number. 



13 

try like ours, the most unfriendly observer of the operations of the Treas- 
ury Department must find much more to admire than to condemn. 

On the whole, then, we may confidently appeal to intelligent and candid 
men of all parties to say whether a larger amount of hard work was ever 
done by any administration, with fewer or more venial errors. Even its 
severest critics must admit that, compared with the preceding incum- 
bents of the cabinet offices, their record as diligent and patriotic servants 
of the country, is as pure as the new-fallen snow. 

From the brief sketch we have now given of Mr. Lincnln^s career, we 
cannot be in doubt what it will be, if he is put on the course for another 
term. The line of policy that General McCIAlan will probably adopt, 
should he be elevated to a position so immeasurably above him, would be 
the reverse of Mr. Lincoln's in every important particular. This is the 
avowed purpose of those who have nominated him for the post. 

III. Under these circumstances is a change in the administration of our 
public affairs desirable ? Is it not, on the contrary, in the highest degree 
impolitic and perilous ? We are far from advocating the perpetuity of 
office tenures. We would heartily welcome an amendment to our present 
Constitution that should make the Presidential term six years with ineli- 
gibility fjr a second term. Rotation in office, within certain limitations, is 
wholesome for the Republic. Men often become secure in their places 
and neglect their duty or abuse the confidence placed in them On the 
other hand, to make public offices a sort of bribery-currency, or holding 
them as spoils of a victorious political party, is sure to bring unworthy and 
incompetent men into authority. Rut however safe and wise a change of 
admiaistration may be in the ordinary condition of a country, it must be 
dangerous and foolish at the present juncture. What can we possibly gain 
by it? In what respect will the country be better oflf by turning Abra- 
ham Lincoln adrift and putting George B. McCltllan in his place 't 

If it could be shown that General Mc Clellan understands the interests of 
the people better than Mr. Lincoln ; that he is more of a statesman ; that 
he is more upright and trustworthy ; that he is more capable of weather- 
ing t^le storm that rages ; or that he has the true interests of the country 
more at heart, and would be more faithful and successful in suppressing the 
rebellion, there might be something gained by a change even at such a time 
as this. But do we wrong General Ale Clellan when we say that he is not 
a statesman ; that he has not made our political system a study ; that he 
has not taken any part in the solution of the great problems to which it 
has given rise ? Do not those who urge his elevation to office admit that 
his politicdl opinions or his capacity and qualifications are of no moment, 
inasmuch as it is only an obedient agent or factor that is needed — as it is the 
men who elect, and not the man who is elected, that will really fill the office ? 
The party upholding General McClellan have disclosed in part what policy 
they would adopt should their agent or factor be at the head of aflfairs. 
By referring to their declarations we see clearly that no more statesman- 
ship is required in their candidate than he possesses. The first grand 
movement is to retreat with a certainty that he may take his own time and 
not be in fear of pursuit. This General McClellan is used to doing. He 
will be expected to write a letter of the following tenor : 



1^ 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 5, 1865. 
To his Kxcellenoy Jeffkrsox Davis, 

President of Confederate States of America. 

Having assumed the duties of the office to which my countrymen have 
elected me, I have the satisfaction to inform your Excellency that hostili- 
ties against your Government will cease after this date, and no further 
attempt will be made on the part of the United States to enforce the laws 
of the Union. Regretting the terrible inflictions of the past three years, 
and wishing you and your Government all success, I have the honour to 
be your Excellency's 

Most obedient servant, 

George B. McClellan, 

Commanrler-in- Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. 

The two Presidents might then loll back in their easy chairs, respect- 
ively, and adapt themselves leisurely to the new order of things. 

It is possible, however, that some States not in Mr. Davis's juris- 
diction would like to slide into it, and some that he would claim might not 
acknowledge his authority, but in the happy mood occasioned by the "ces- 
sation of hostilities" these little irregularities would be of insignificant 
moment. At all events "coercion" will no longer be thought of! 

But there is an army or two in the field, and they may be there when 
the new powers are installed. What shall be done with them? There 
will be questions of some delicacy too, about depredations upon our com- 
merce. Who will manage them ? American democracy and English 
aristocracy have not heretofore been specially friendly to each other. 
There will be a heavy national debt,* for the payment of which provision 
must be made. Who will attend to this ? What shall be done with freed- 
men, prisoners, and military occupations, and claims for spoliations, con- 
fiscations, &c., &c. Who will establish the boundary line between the two 
or ten governments or republics (as the case may be), and arrange treaties 
of amity and commerce? Our foreign relations will need readjustment 
also, to suit the new condition of things. With so "peculiar" an aristoc- 
racy as we shall then have for our Southern neighbour, and a still more 
peculiar monarchy just beyond — and the British possessions (now planning 
a compact Federative Union) on the North — whatever fragment of the 
noble old Union is left will be considerably puzzled to keep clear of en- 
tangling alliances or irritating controversies which neither the new Presi- 
dent nor his backers would be just the men to manage. 

AVe have never heard or read a syllable from any quarter that ascribed 
to (General McClellan the least fitness by education or habit for the office 
to which he is nominated, even in the piping times of peace, and when 
the sea of public affairs is smooth ; nor do we suppose that anything is de- 
sired or expected of him by those who urge his election, except to do their 
bidding. He is avowedly the candidate of a party whose will he is to exe- 
cute, ^1) tliat whatever is to be done it will not l)e he that does it — but 
they who put him there will do it by and through him. The workmen 
must have the tool and the tool is useless without the' workmen. If the 

* It will be doubled by the election of General McClellan. 



15 

Messrs. Wood, Seymour^ Valla ndi(/Jiam, Lonrj, and Pendleton arc states- 
men, wliose antecedents and present position and opinions seem to point 
them out as the true exponents of American feeling and purpose, and tlie 
best men to compose differences, command confidence, and secure the sym- 
pathy and co-operation of wise and patriotic citizens, the election of (Snunil 
MrCldlau will give them the lead, and the policy of the country for the 
ensuing four years will be shaped to suit their views. T)ie struggle for 
the supremacy of the Government over the insurgent States ivill cease, and 
the Confederate Government be raised from a state of rebellion to an inde- 
pendent sovereignty. So evident is it that the substitution of Geonje B. 
McClelhui for Abraham Lincoln would be a virtual condemnation of all 
measures for the suppression of the rebellion and for the maintenance of 
the laws, that if the present incumbent were no better than Buchanan him- 
self, we would risk the mischief he would dare to do at the present moinent, 
rather than incur the hazards of a change. As the unavoidable conse- 
quence of such a substitution the labours, sacrifices and hopes of the eighty 
years' existence of our Government are blasted — our country loses its 
place in the family of nations — our flag becomes an object of derision. 
Divided and distracted by conflicts of policy and interest among ourselves, 
we shall invite foreign aggressions, and rather welcome than repel the 
offer of some Austrian prince or English duke to prevent us from cutting 
each other's throats * 

Admitting that the provisions of the Constitution have been violated — 
that the suspension of the haheas corpus is an outrage, and the emancipa- 
tion proclamation a blunder and a sin — these errors may be retrieved — the 
wrongs done to the Constitution can be repaired, and the wrong doers can 
be brought to the bar of justice (as that " notorious," "General Jackson, was 
for imprisoning a recusant judge at New Orleans), and farther blunders and 
sins may be avoided ; but, be it remembered, that Abraham Lincoln and his 
policy are identified with the overthrow of Jefferson Davis and his policy. 
Therefore, to give our votes for Lincoln and Johnson is to repudiate the Con- 
federacy and its President, whereas to give them for McCleUan and Pendleton 
is to indorse principles that must end in the complete dissolution of the 
Union. Mr. Lincoln has tiTcd his best to put down the rebellion, and to 
vote against him is to say that we would not have it put down; for mince 
the matter as we may, 

" To this complexion it must come at last." 

In this connection we may analyze briefly a delusive ''clap-trap" phrase 
which has gained marvellous currency. " The Constitution as it is and 
the Union as it was." One would think from the use that is nuide of the 
first clause of this cabalistic sentence, that there were persons who object 
to the Constitution and are seeking to change or nullify it. We do not 
know who answers to this description, except it be those who set at nought the 
plain provisions of that instrument, and resist the government established 
under it, with their sympathizers and abettors. " The Constitution as it is, 
" forbids any State to enter into any confederation ; to keep troops or 



* Such a contingency is actually suggested in a late Richmond paper. " The incapacity 
of the Yankees for managing public affairs." says the rebel Editor, " may make it necessary 
for the South, for the interests of humanity — to assume the control as Mnximiiian did of 
Mexico." In other words, if foreign despots should decline .so disagreeable an office, some 
Southern nabob would come to our relief and protect us from a Kilkenny cat's end. 



of war in time of peace ; to enter into any agreement or compact with 
another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war unless actually in- 
vaded or in such imuiinient danger as not to admit of delay." Who objects 
to ''The Constitution as it is," in these particulars? Not Mr. Lincoln nor 
his supporters. " The Constitution as it is," guarantees to every State in 
the Union a " republican form of government," and the Union is pledged 
to protect each of the States against invasion and domestic violence. Who 
objects to " The Constitution as it is" in this respect? Not Mr. Lincoln 
and his supporters. "The Constitution as it is," sets aside and counts as 
blank paper anything in the laws or constitution of any State which is 
contrary to or inconsistent with its own supremacy, or with the laws and 
treaties made under its authority. Who objects to " The Constitution as 
it is" in these particulars? Not Mr. Lincoln nor his supporters. If the 
right to secede is claimed by any State and the Federal Government denies 
the right, or if the Federal Government claims the right to do what it is 
not authorized to do, "The Constitution as it is," provides a tribunal com- 
petent in all respects to determine such questions. When have Mr. Lin- 
coln or his supporters refused to recognize this tribunal, or been unwilling 
to submit the measures of the Administration, any or all of them, to its 
judgment? 

l)oes not every schoolboy know that " the Constitution" cannot be other- 
wise than " as it is," until it is changed by amendments proposed and 
adopted in accordance with its own provisions, or until it is swept away 
by a revolution ? So that this cry — " the Constitution as it is" must pass for 
mere " slang." It amounts to no more than "the sun as it is," or " gravi- 
tation as it is." 

And then as to the second clause, "The Union as it was" — what does it 
really mean ? Does it mean that we can get back the hundreds of thou- 
sands who have been slain in battle — the stalwart men who tilled the 
soil, the skilful mechanics who wrought our wood and iron and brass into 
all manner of useful implements, or those who had the skill to handle 
them ? Can we restore husbands and fathers, sons and brothers to their 
bereaved families, or repair the wastes which have been made by the tramp 
of armies, and the ruthless incursions of robber-bands upon villages, towns 
and States in which peace and prosperity reigned when the revolt broke 
out? 

" The Union as it was !" Alas ! in the most favourable issue of the con- 
test, that can never be seen again except on the page of history. The law- 
ful government may be established (as we trust and believe it will be) over 
all the territory that constituted the Union, and our external relations may 
not be essentially disturbed, but it will not be "the Union as it was," 
though it may be something much better. The "peculiar institution" of 
the South will have no place in the Union that is to be, and this of itself 
will make a world-wide difference. The shock to which its friends and 
protectors voluntarily exposed the slave system, has been fatal to its exist- 
ence, and its extinction will modify some importaiit features of our public 
policy. There will be no longer that dark cloiul lowering on the Southern 
horizon, threatening our peace, and furnishing a theme of bitter invective 
for our adversaries abroad. Our national legislation will no longer be cor- 
rupted and distorted to conciliate task-masters, nor our popular elections 
be stimulated by the crack of a Southern whip. The Union as it was 



must aud will be restored as a political organization, and that to a position 
far more hopeful and eommandinii' than it occupied before, but its past and 
future will be as different as gold beibre and after it has been tried in the 
fire. No event will bring back the kind feelings aud genial social inter- 
course which, in spite of the acrimony engendered by political feuds, made 
us one people. No change can restore the thousands of millions of money 
expended in the materials and implements of war. What Southern man 
will look complacently upon the monuments of victory that will rise along 
the path of the Union armies ? And what Northern heart cun exult over 
courage and heroism shown in a bloody crusade against a free and benefi- 
cent government, and against the sacred interests of humanity and e((ual 
rights throughout the world i* The maimed and mutilated soldier returns 
from the field, and we recognize him as our kinsman or neighbour though 
he has left a leg or an arm on the battle ground. His head and his heart 
are sound, but lie is not the man that he was — He is more q//i man. So 
the Union will be restored in its vitality and vigour, but with many tokens 
of its heroic struggle to defend its life and honour against those of its own 
household who rose up against it. It is not " the Union as it was" — It is 
more of a Union. 

If any thing in our present prospect is sure beyond controversy, it is 
that the South cannot be as it has been, politically, socially, morally or 
pecuniarily witbout slavery ; and the North and West will never again live 
peaceably with it. Slavery is doomed at all events, and by concession to 
the insurgents or by a hollow peace, the country may sink with it; whereas 
by sustaining the Government we save the country, while slavery sinks by 
its own weight. 

One of the most singular anomalies which meets us in the present can- 
vass is the sympathy professed by those who call themselves democrats, 
with the authors and abettors of the rebellion. " We should never forget," 
says the lamented Douglas, '' that a man cannot be a true democrat unless 
he is a loyal patriot.^' We have always supposed that the very name they 
bear and in which they glory, implied an unyielding opposition to privi- 
leged classes ; that whether it were the aristocracy of wealth or birth or 
colour, its pretensions would be repudiated with scorn ; and probably all 
this would be so, were it not that the lust of power becomes, for a time, 
the dominant passion, and in the eagerness to grasp a sceptre its ugly look 
is not observed. That the tendency of slavery is to create an arrogant, 
overbearing class, its history abundantly proves. With a true democracy 
it must be forever at war. If at any time there should seem to be a co- 
alition between them, it will be most surely to the advantage of slavery, 
and the democracy must, sooner or later, lose by it. 

How long slavery has been the balancing power in our political strug- 
gles, advancing one imperious claim after another, as it found its weight 
in the scale would bear! With the radical abolitionists, prepared to sac- 
rifice the government, the Constitution — every thing — for instant and uni- 
versal emancipation ; the Southern extremists seeking to surround slavery 
with new safeguards and to extend its " divine blessings"^ over the whole 
country ; andconservative men admitting the evils and crimes of slavery, 
but unwilling to violate the provisions of the Constitution in dealing with 
it, it is perhaps not very strange that democracy should forget itself and 
its lofty pretensions ; but how it can deliberately put itself into the closest 



18 

I'cllowship, not dimply with the Soutlicru aristocracy, but -with the South- 
era aristocracy armed and aiming a mortal blow at the beart of the most 
perfect popular government ever known among men — this is passing 
strange. It cannot be the democracy of 1812 nor of 1832. 

Some persons, in their zeal to bring the Administration into odium, 
would have us believe that the present is a war against slavery, and so a 
violation of our faith towards the Southern States, but this attempt will 
not succeed with intelligent and candid men of any party. It is sad to 
say, that so far as it is properly a war at all, it is a war of Americans with 
Americans. It is a war between the sons of those who fought side by 
side for our common inheritance. It is an insurrection of the Slave States 
of the South against the Free States of the East, North and West — against 
freedom every where, in its highest and holiest sense. It is this insurrec- 
tion that our lawful government is seeking to suppress. But had it been 
attempted for any other cause — had South Carolina or Georgia refused on 
any pretext to obey the supreme law of the land, or had coined money or 
established post routes or made treaties, and had the Federal Grovernment 
been res^isted in the exercise of its constitutional powers, the same catas- 
trophe would have happened, though there were not a slave on their soil. 
Had the South been content to abide by the Constitution, which it helped 
to form and swore to uphold, its domestic policy would have suifered no 
interference from any quarter. But in pushing oiT the shield that pro- 
tected them as constituents of the Union, tliey laid themselves and their 
jtolicy open to the consequences. 

Others hold that the existing government has exceeded its powers under 
the Constitution, and therefore should be displaced. But that is not the 
way in which the Constitution itself would have such misdeeds judged. The 
people cannot assemble and inquire into the alleged abuses and award jus- 
tice, and therefere they have deputed some of their servants — supposed to 
be well qualified for this special duty — to hear and determine all questions 
of this kind. If the Chief Magistrate has proved faithless he can be im- 
peached by one branch of the people's Congress and tried by the other 
branch. If laws are passed in contravention of the Constitution, they will 
be set aside by the people's Supreme Court. The voice of the people is 
uttered through their President, their Congress and their Judges. So 
that in truth, ample remedies are in the hands of the people or their chosen 
agents for any and all wrongs that human laws can reach. Why, then, this 
war '( Simply because such a government does not suit Southern and 
European aristocrats. In the unprecedented gi'owth and pro.sperity of the 
country, its increasing power and gigantic enterprise they see the oversha- 
dowing of their own grandeur and renown. The hoary despotisms of Europe 
do not like the significance with which their vassals point across the ocean 
to our young and vigorous Ftepublic, where labour is respected and 
well compen.sated ; industry rewarded with oompetence, and avenues to 
wealth, honour and fame open on every side for every class. If our power 
could be crippled and our contagious influence averted, the day of reck- 
oning for themselves might l)e postponed a little longer. In tlie position 
and feeling of the cotton planters of the South they saw a hopeful element 
of their success. This half-fledged aristocracy had chafed and fretted and 
ground itself against the free institutions of the North, and with a little 
aid and countenance from foreign sources could perhaps be excited to sever 



1!) 

the obnoxious bond and cH)iivcit the compact faj^got into a pile of loose 
sticks. No time seemed more propitious than just when one of the great 
political parties of the country was smarting:; under a defeat and a new 
administration — especially distasteful to Southern feelinj^ — was about to 
assume the government. Such was the impatience of the disor^Mnizers 
and their foreign allies, that they could not wait for the reins to change 
hands. Mouths before the new President was inaugurated the blow was 
struck which has drawn after it the untold horrors, sacrifices and distresses 
of a bloody civil war. 

And now, we put it to our fellow-citizens of all classes,— Shall we abau- 
don the defence of our Constitution and Government, our property and 
homes, and forego all the advantages that we have won at such tremendous 
cost, just as the fruits of our sacrifices and sufferings are about to drop into 
our hands ? If a teamster, who is obliged to drag a heavy load four miles 
through a bog-meadow, has done all but the last fourth of a mile and one 
spirited effort will put him and his weary team on solid ground, is such a 
consummate fool as to turu back and try the mire again, who will not say 
that he ought to stay there till his beard grows ? 

There is really only one question that can excite much, debate. It is 
with sorrow we state it. If the majority of the voters of the United States 
are prepared to stoop so low as to take up and elevate to the presidency a 
citizen so destitute of the essential qualifications for the office as is General 
McClellan, does it not prove their incapacity to govern themselves ? What 
must be the priests and the worshippers whose god is a monkey or a 
myth ? If between such an administration as we have had since March, 
1861, and such as we are likely to have with General McOldlan nommaWj 
President, (though really the puppet of the men who put him forward) — 
the people choose the latter — what hope have we that our future will not be 
as disastrous as our past has been glorious r* But give the present Admin- 
istration a fair field to complete what it has so auspiciously begun, and if 
we have not a stronger Union, a higher national position, aud a more bril- 
liant prospect than ever, of permanent peace both at home and abroad, it 
will be the first time that like causes have failed to produce like effects. 

The present campaign will soon be over, and Abraham Lincoln (as we 
believe) will be continued in office another term. But if by any means, foul 
or fair, the hopes of the loyal men of the country shall be disappointed, 
and the majority of legal votes shall prove to be for General McClellan, 
there is a sorer disappointment than ours, in store for those who expect 
peace and prosperity. The new administration may adopt the truckling 
policy foreshadowed in the Chicago platform, but the sentiment of the peo- 
ple of the country will not go with it, but will only assert itself in new and 
sterner forms. The attitude of loyalty aud rebellion towards each other, 
will be more intensely hostile. Instead of greater stability in social and 
business matters, they will be a thousand fold more unsettled and fluctua- 
ting. Capital, which is the nurse aud stimulus of labour, will seek invest- 
ments abroad. Flour may go down to five dollars a barrel, but labour will 
sink with it to fifty cents a day. House rents may be cheaper when ten- 
ants are fewer, but there will be no new work for masons or carpenters or 
hod-carriers. There may be peace for a little time, but it will only be the 
precursor of a fiercer and deadlier strife. Instead of two hostile bands we 
may have twenty, and the f\xir domain of the North, as yet unscathed in 

*0l ._... _., 



20 

its material prosperity by the present war, may be turned into a field of 
blood. Peace on ani/ terms but the snbnu'ssion of every State and every 
foot of its so// to the Federal Government, is a dehislon. 

Let every man who conies to the polls on the eighth of November, know 
assuredly that a vote given for MrClellan and Pendletonjis a voie against 
Lincoln and Johnson ; and every vote against Lincoln and Johnson is a 
vote for a disruption of the Union ; and he who casts it may fancy some 
minion of Southern or European aristocracy looking over his shoulders, 
chuckling, as he exclaims, " Aha ! So would we have it." 

Once more then let the Old Flag stream out, and let the people — the 
loyal people of the United States — with one heart and voice call 

LINCOLN AND JOHNSON 

to the head of the Government, and stand by them till rebel sympathizers 
and abettors hie to the homes of the owls and the bats. 



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